American Radioworks on WUOT

Specials airing Sundays at 6 p.m. in September from American RadioWorks and American Public Media. If you miss hearing them on WUOT, you can go to the ARW website to listen anytime.

Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014: Program 1: The Science of Smart Researchers have long been searching for better ways to learn. In recent decades, experts working in cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience have opened new windows into how the brain works, and how we can learn to learn better. This program looks at some of the big ideas coming out of brain science. We meet the researchers who are unlocking the secrets of how the brain acquires and holds on to knowledge. And we meet the teachers and students who are trying to apply that knowledge in the real world.

More details:

• In Toronto, we meet one of the world's leading experts on bilingualism and the brain.

• In Utah, schoolchildren are learning to speak Chinese in a statewide effort to boost overall school success.

• We hit the driving range with UCLA researchers who are looking at how motor skills affect how we learn and remember.

• In Georgia, we go on rounds with a medical student who is using brain research to change how he studies — changing his Ds into As.

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014: Program 2: Greater Expectations: The Challenge of the Common Core

The United States is in the midst of a huge education reform. The Common Core State Standards are a new set of expectations for what students should learn each year. The standards have been adopted by most states, though there's plenty of controversy about them among activists and politicians. This American RadioWorks documentary takes listeners into classrooms to explore how the standards are changing teaching and learning. Teachers say Common Core has the potential to help kids who are behind, as well as those who are ahead. But many are concerned that bad Common Core scores could get teachers and principals fired.

More details:

• Meet teachers who were at first skeptical of Common Core but now embrace the new standards. We'll find out why.

• Hear how the standards are changing how students learn — from a high school history class in Reno, Nevada, to a third-grade math class on Long Island.

• Learn how the new Common Core tests are different from previous state tests — and why stakes are higher.

• Understand why the new tests are causing so much controversy and how they're undermining support for the Common Core.

• Explore the link between tests and standards, and how Common Core may be challenging that link.